ABSTRACT

A high-choice media environment has had consequences and implications for the president’s relationship with the press. Widespread use of digital and social media technologies by elites and citizens alike threatens the messaging monopoly presidents once presided over. The case we document is one leadership response President Trump has had to these circumstances: the degradation of the news media and communicative positioning of himself and friendly information sources as the arbiters of “truth.” In an analysis of the media-related tweets President Trump has issued since taking office, we examine how the president communicatively constitutes unitary information management and control.